Kathleen Chaffee

Patent Agent
Denton's

Kathleen Chaffee is a Patent Agent with three years of experience in Denton’s Intellectual Property and Technology Practice. Kathleen is a Ph. D. chemist focusing on patent prosecution and patent litigation in the chemistry, biotechnology, and life sciences fields. Her doctoral research involved the development of Magnetic Resonance (MR) techniques for studying molecular interactions. As a Fulbright Advanced Student, Kathleen studied under world-class synthetic chemists at École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, where she synthesized novel cage molecules and studied the kinetic and energetic contributions in ligand binding. As a postdoctoral research associate with the Biomedical Magnetic Resonance Laboratory at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Kathleen developed animal models of human disease, including various cancer models, and developed various magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques. Kathleen has extensive research experience relating to biomedical MRI systems and technologies, as well as teaching experience in several areas of chemistry.

Susan K. Feigenbaum

Professor
Department of Economics
University of Missouri-St. Louis

Prior to joining the Department of Economics at the University of Missouri-St. Louis in 1988, Feigenbaum was Associate Professor at Claremont McKenna College. She has also held the position of Chief of Methodology Development, Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission, and has been a Scholar-in-Residence at the Center for Study of Public Choice, George Mason University. Feigenbaum, who received her Ph. D. in 1980 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is an applied econometrician interested in the areas of health economics, public choice, and the economics of science. More Info

John Flick

Special Agent
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

John Flick has a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering and a master’s in aerospace engineering. Before joining the FBI as a Special Agent in 2008, Flick worked at NASA Langley Research Center for eight years doing spacecraft systems design and analysis. He currently works on national security investigations. He is also a firearms instructor and SWAT team operator and sniper.

Sheila Grant

Professor
Department of Biological Engineering
University of Missouri-Columbia

Dr. Sheila Grant, Professor, Unviersity of Missouri-Columbia, is a founder and Chief Technology Officer of EternoGen and the principal inventor of the NanoMatrix technology around which the company was established. EternoGen focuses on tissue repair and regenerative medicine. A professor in the Department of Biological Engineering at MU with an emphasis in biomaterials, Grant is an expert in synthetic and organic tissue engineering. Her specific research interests involve developing nanostructured biocomposites. Her work addresses in-vivo analysis of tissue integration into novel biocomposites for soft tissue replacement as well as materials characterisation of explanted biomaterials.

Wesley R. Harris

Professor, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
Associate Dean, Graduate School

Professor Harris joined the UM-St. Louis faculty in the Fall of 1988. He received both his B.S. and his Ph.D. from Texas A&M University, and was a Postdoctoral Associate at the University of California-Berkeley. Prior to coming to St. Louis, he held faculty positions at the University of California at Davis and the University of Idaho.

Luis R. Jimenez

President and Cheif Operations Officer
EternoGen

Luis Jimenez's experience includes the production validation a molecular-based prostate cancer diagnostic assay with J&J. He later went on to work with Bio-tech Pharmacal, a nutraceutical manufacturing company where he designed and implemented a GMP manufacturing quality system. His experience includes operations, quality control in cGMP manufacturing, regulatory affairs for manufacturing, design engineering, technology transfer and project management. Jimenez’s background includes Chemical Engineering, Cum Laude and a Masters of Business Administration with Academic Excellence.

Matthew MacEwan

Founder, president and Chief Scientific Officer
Retectix LLC

Matthew MacEwan, founder, president and CSO of Retectix LLC located at UMSL's ITE incubator in St. Louis. By 30 years of age, he had already invented two medical devices -- a surgical mesh that speeds healing and a titanium hardware that promotes bone growth in the spine. He has also served as mentor for an UMSL graduate student startup company and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering and an M.D. with clinical specialization in neurosurgery at Washington University.

Brett Maricque

Brett Maricque is a fourth year graduate student in the Computational and Systems Biology program at Washington University. He is studying the effects of variation in non-coding DNA sequence on gene expression in the developing brain under the direction of Dr. Barak Cohen and Dr. Joe Dougherty. Brett has been a member of The BALSA Group since January 2012 serving as Director of Finance from April 2012 to March 2013 and vice President from April 2013 to December 2013. He is currently the President of The BALSA Group. The Biotechnology and Life Science Advising (BALSA) Group, a non-profit organization founded and led by WashU graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. BALSA provides short-term consulting services to companies ranging from startups to large corporations. BALSA is recruiting scientists to join their team; members gain experience in the life science industry while improving leadership, teamwork and business skills.

Tim Noonan

Vice President, Boeing Ventures

Tim leads Ventures, part of Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS). Ventures builds great teams of Boeing entrepreneurs who create new businesses either through developing new products and services or disrupting markets with game-changing technologies and business models. Current teams are focused on solving problems in carbon capture; hydrokinetic power generation; renewables integration; microgrids; and timing and location services. Noonan served as an officer in the United States Marine Corps. A St. Louis native, he is married and has five children. He is a founding board member of Friends of Soldiers Memorial in St. Louis and serves as a board member of The Mission Continues, the most socially innovative organization in the country serving and challenging this generation of veterans. Noonan also serves on the Board of Advisors at Project FROG. He earned a B.S. from the United States Naval Academy and an M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. He is a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute.

Joseph Parks

Director
MO HealthNet Division
Missouri Department of Social Services

Dr. Joseph Parks practices psychiatry on an outpatient basis at Family Health Center, a community health center established to expand services to uninsured and underinsured patients in the Columbia, Mo. area. He previously served as the Division Director for the Division of Comprehensive Psychiatric Services for the Missouri Department of Mental Health; Director of the Missouri Institute of Mental Health, with the University of Missouri-St. Louis; and as President of the Medical Director's Council of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors. Parks received the American Psychiatric Association Bronze Achievement Award in 2006 for a program controlling pharmacy costs by improving prescribing practices.

Thomas F. Schlafly

 
Tom Schlafly is the Chairman of Schlafly Brewing Company and a partner at Thompson Coburn LLP.  He serves on the boards of directors of Legg Mason Partners Equity Trust and Citizens National Bank of Greater St. Louis.  He also serves on the boards of several not-for-profit organizations, including The St. Louis Public Library and The Crudem Foundation, which oversees a hospital in Milot, Haiti.  Tom received his undergraduate and law degrees from Georgetown University.  He and his wife, Ulrike, live in the Central West End.

Travis Sheridan

Assistant Vice President, innovation & EntrepreneurshipSt. Louis Economic Development Partnership

Travis Sheridan is assistant vice president, innovation & entrepreneurship, at the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership (STLPartnership). He is passionate about entrepreneurship as a driver for economic development and is well-connected to startup resources in the St. Louis region.

Travis Sheridan is the Assistant Vice President of Innovation & Entrepreneurship for St. Louis Economic Development Partnership. Tasked with creating an environment in which success is the most likely outcome, the Innovation & Entrepreneurship division oversees STLVentureWorks, Helix Center Biotech Incubator, Accelerate St. Louis, and St. Louis Startup Challenge. Sheridan drives entrepreneurs toward customer and capital readiness, manages milestone-based growth plans, and coordinates mentoring services. He is responsible for client recruitment as well as the development and implementation of programming for the STLVentureWorks’ network of business
incubators. He is involved in the funding, development and management of all entrepreneurial support projects assumed by the division.

Before moving to St. Louis from Fresno, California, Sheridan led client recruitment and development at the Central Valley Business Incubator’s Water, Energy & Technology Center. Sheridan helped clients secure over $20 million in venture funding, create over 1,000 jobs and launch over 100 new businesses. He co-founded 59DaysOfCode— central California’s only web and mobile application competition — and operated a 24/7/365 co-working facility, which provides collaboration and work space for more than 120 members. Sheridan possesses a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Fresno Pacific University, a master’s degree in organizational behavior from Alliant University, and has completed the coursework for his doctorate in organizational leadership from the University of LaVerne.

Christopher Spilling

Dr. Spilling received his B.Sc. (Hons.) degree and Ph.D. degree from the University of Technology, Loughborough, England. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Northwestern University before joining the UM-St. Louis faculty in 1989. Research Interests